Charles Cromwell Ingham
American, 1786 - 1863
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Charles Cromwell Ingham was an Irish portrait painter and later a founder of the New York National Academy of Design during the 19th century.
Ingham was a descendant of a man who went to Ireland as an officer in Cromwell's army (hence his middle name). He was born in Dublin in 1796 or 1797, studying art from 1809 to 1813 at The Dublin Institution with William Cuming before immigrating to the United States in 1816 or 1817. Settling in New York City, he distinguished himself by his oil painting, but also in watercolor on ivory, a standard medium for miniature portraits since the 18th century. His work in oil is marked by a high finish achieved by successive glazings.
Ingham occupied a front rank with his brother as a portrait painter known for his paintings of young women of New York's upper class, painting over 200 portraits between 1826 and 1845, such as those including portraits as Flower Girl (1846), Day Dream, and Portrait of a Child. Later founding the National Academy of Design, he would serve as its vice president for a number of years until his death in New York on 10 December 1863, at the age of 67.
